Uniform Code of Military Justice; Text, References and Commentary Based on the Report of the Committee on a Uniform Code of Military Justice to the Secretary of Defense [the Morgan Draft] (1949)

In 1948, in response to the demand for a uniform system of courts-martial for the military services, Secretary of Defense James Forrestal appointed a committee to draft a Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Harvard Law Professor Edmund M. Morgan chaired this committee, which also included Gordon Gray (Assistant Secretary of the Army), W. John Kenney (Under Sectretary of the Navy), Eugene M. Zuckert (Assistant Secretary of the Air Force), and Felix E. Larkin (Assistant General Counsel, Office of the Secretary of Defense). In January 1949, the committee completed the draft and sent it to Secretary Forrestal for review, whereupon it was delivered to Capitol Hill on February 8, 1949. The full text of the "Morgan Draft" with references and commentary is linked below. (Library of Congress Call Number LAW United States 4 "Military"; OCLC Number 17511562)

For more information on the UCMJ Legislative History project, of which this document is only one part, and its sponsor, the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School Library, visit the main UCMJ page.

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